Week Ten
Lesson 10: How can pollution affect a dragonfly's environment?
S3L2. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the effects of pollution (air, land, and water) and humans on the environment.
a. Ask questions to collect information and create records of sources and effects of pollution on the plants and animals.
What is pollution?
- Pollution is when harmful things are introduced to the environment.
- These harmful things are called pollutants.
- There are many different types of pollution:
Air pollution Water pollution Land pollution
- It is a big problem all around the world. It affects plants, animals, and humans.
- Air pollution can be caused by pollutants from cars, factories, burning coal and bad chemicals in the air.
- It can hurt humans and the environment.
- Water pollution can be caused by things like oil spills, or pesticides, that go into water sources.
- It can harm marine life, like fish.
- Land pollution is mostly caused by lots and lots of trash dumped into landfills.
- It can hurt plants, animals and the environment.
- But really, humans are the cause behind all this pollution. People always drive cars, use pesticides for their yards, and leave trash on the side of the road.
<-- Click to watch a short video on Pollution!
Now let's focus on dragonflies
- Dragonflies are mainly impacted by water pollution.
- In the first stages of a dragonfly's life, they live in water.
- Once they hatch from their eggs, they stay in water to feed and live.
- Dragonflies are super important to the environment. They can help tell if water in an ecosystem is healthy or not.
- Dragonflies help gardeners, and eat lots of pesky bugs like mosquitoes. They are also pollinators. Pollinators are insects or animals that help move pollen from one plant to another. So, they help spread flowers and plants to many places, and also keep them healthy.
- If dragonflies were hurt by pollution, then there would be many, many mosquitoes and other bad bugs around. We would also lose many pollinators, which can hurt the environment.
- Water pollution can include things like:
- Oil spills
- Pesticides
- Runoff
- Trash & plastic
- So, since water is very important to the beginning of a dragonfly's life, water pollution can harm them, and they can die.
- Water pollution can cause dragonfly eggs to not hatch.
- Water pollution can also affect a dragonfly's food underwater. So if they feed off of something that is harmful, then they will not grow to be healthy adults.
- Once a water ecosystem is polluted, it can harm many other plants and animals, not just dragonflies.
Now, show me what you've learned!
Click on the worksheet below to print and complete!
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